A privately funded, independent panel has begun to investigate the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis, with the goal of determining what happened and analyzing the response of Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) and the government. In addition, they will study legal and cultural issues and the impact on the rest of the world. Koichi Kitazawa, Committee Chair, said that popular distrust of the government and TEPCO and concerns about a lack of transparency led to the formation of the committee. The panel plans to release its report in March, on the anniversary of the nuclear disaster.

A report from the Atomic Energy Commission of Japan estimates that decommissioning the Fukushima Daiichi reactors will take more than 30 years. Panelists who compiled the report said that it will take approximately 3 years to move spent fuel rods to an on-site fuel pond, and approximately ten years to remove melted fuel from the reactors. The report recommends forming a joint task force between the government and TEPCO in order to facilitate the process.

In an effort to provide consumers with better information, Japanese supermarket Aeon released the results of radiation tests on foods sold in its stores, and said it will increase the number of items tested to 5,000 in the next three months. Items measuring 50 Bq/kg or more of cesium have been removed from sale; so far, about 30 items have been removed, including cod, rice, bonito, and tuna. The government limit for cesium contamination is far higher, at 500 Bq/kg.

The International Energy Agency released its annual “World Energy Outlook” report this week, which included a “Low Nuclear Case” scenario. The report asserts that nuclear power could fall by 15% by 2035, as a result of security issues, waste disposal problems, and issues with new plants. That decrease could impact fuel costs around the world. The organization admits that the “Low Nuclear Case” is an assumption, not a prediction. Sven Teske, of Greenpeace International, said, “The IEA is once again putting politics ahead of science by suggesting that a reduction in nuclear power will lead to higher costs and emissions. The opposite is the case; a combination of energy efficiency and renewables could lead to a complete phase out of nuclear power by 2035, while lowering energy costs and carbon emissions.”

According to the original of the articla about Kashiwa city resuming burning of radioactive vegetation: 灰の濃度が急上昇しないよう、１日１２０トンのごみ焼却量のうち草木は１～２割にとどめる。国の基準を超える焼却灰は埋め立てできないため、同センター内に保管する
What I understand from this is that
1) Kashiwa city has radioactive vegetal waste (wood and leaves) that, if burned, will yield ashes that exceed 8000 bq/kg
2) By law, such ashes cannot be buried as regular garbage ash, therefore Kashiwa city refrained from burning the vegetal waste so far.

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(Unregistered) Beppe
says:

3) For the next month Kashiwa city will mix 10-20% of that contaminated vegetal waste into regular waste and will therefore be able to obtain ashes th...

3) For the next month Kashiwa city will mix 10-20% of that contaminated vegetal waste into regular waste and will therefore be able to obtain ashes that are below the legal limit

As far as I know, this is legal. However I do not understand why it has been made legal. The problem with nuclear fallout is that it is dispersed so it is hard to collect and store in a disposal facility. Why does the Japanese law allow to dilute material contaminated beyond the legal limits with less contaminated material is beyond my comprehension.